THE DICTATOR

With Sacha Baron Cohen, Anna Faris, John C Riley, Sayed Badreya, Megan Fox

Written by Sacha Baron Cohen, Alec Berg, David Mandel, Jeff Schaffer

Directed by Larry Charles

This time the man behind unforgettable satirical characters like Ali G, Borat and Brüno discards his hilariously deceptive method of confronting unsuspecting people with off the wall scenarios, for this straight (but off the wall) narrative. However, you didn't expect anything straight forward did you? As his next step, if he won't be able to embarrass and expose a variety of global dictators by interviewing them, simple create a fictitious character to take shots at.
(With ridiculous egotistical tyrant traits loaned from many despots, incl. Gaddafi) Hafez Aladeen is a dictator ruling the Republic Of Wadiya with an iron fist. The UN's concern about his (denied) nuclear programme brings him to New York, but he is forced to go undercover when escaping an attempt on his life. The man who used to do as he pleased now faces living the life of a regular person (while still carrying himself as a supreme ruler). He gets a job at a green store, while his uncle has a dimwit double lined up with plans of his own in the pipeline for Wadiya. The first segment where we get to see how he runs his country is hilarious (even more so when a lot of it are parodies of real dictator behaviour). The rest of his fish-out-of-water scenario very much heads down an all too familiar regular American comedy path of the immigrant in New York (but with very little political correctness or guard on crudity). And, of course he comes to realize the error of his ways.

Again directed by Cohen collaborator Larry Charles (who made his big splash writing for Seinfeld), the movie is littered with satirical stabs and exaggerated dictator behaviour, which includes some very politically incorrect and over the top scenes set to probably offend as many as it will amuse.

Extra features: extended and deleted scenes and an in-character interview with Larry King.

4 / B
- Paul Blom

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- A - B - C

See the rest of Cohen's movies below

A: Multiple Viewing Potential
B: Deserves Another Look
C: Once Should Suffice